Fishhook sharpener



Oct. 16, 1956 W, `LMARKS, 2,766,643

FISHHOOK SHARPENER Filed Aug. l0, 1955 United States Patent() FISHHOOKSHARPENER William I. Marks, Des Moines, Iowa Application August 10,1953, Serial No. 373,311 Claims. (Cl. 76-88) This invention relates to atool for sharpening a point end of a shing hook or like and is animprovement on my co-pending application on a sharpening tool, SerialNumber 326,386, filed December 17, 1952.

The present and universal method of sharpening the points of tshhooks isto whet and hone the same with a small abrasive stone. Obviously, thisis a slow and tedious task due to the curvature and shank of the hookbeing adjacent and in the way of the sharpening action. In the case ofmultiple hooks, such as found on shing plugs, the sharpening operationis almost impossible and often results in injury to the one'sharpeningthe hooks. However, the hooks on such baits are particularly subjectedto point damage and this is especially so when the plug is being cast inwater having boulders and rocks.

Therefore, the principal object of my invention is to provide a shhooksharpening tool that is as easy to operate as that of sharpening apencil or winding a watch.

A further object of this invention is to provide a shhook Sharpener thatonce in operational contact with the shhook, requires little skill orfurther attention from the user except the mere manual rotation of thesame.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a fishhooksharpening tool that evenly grinds the point of the shhook intosharpened condition without lateral swinging moments during the rotationof the tool.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a iishhookSharpener that is self-cleaning.

Still further objects of my invention are to provide a sharpening toolof the class described that is economical in manufacture, durable inuse, and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combinationof the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated areattained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed outin my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my tool ready for use in showing a hookin broken lines being sharpened.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of the head portion of the tool withsections cut away to more fully illustrate its construction,

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the device showing its attackof a iishhook point during the sharpening process,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the head portion of the toolwith the tile unit removed,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged end view of the head of the tool, and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the at file element.

In these drawings I have used the numeral 10 to designate the body of mySharpener which is in the form of an elongated rod having its upper end11 knurled to facilitate its manual handling and rotation. The numeralrammed oct. 1e, 195s 12 designates the other or head end of the tool andin the end of which I have formed a slot opening 13. This slot openingextends inwardly and at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the tool asshown in Fig. 3.

In the manufacture of my tool, I drill a transverse hole 14 through thehead portion 12, with this hole bisecting the slot 13 as shown in Fig.4. The numeral 15 designates a small le of rectangular structureinserted into the slot opening 13 as shown in Fig. 2. Inasmuch as thehole 14 passes through and bisects the slot opening 13, the ile segmentwill cross the hole 14 substantially at the center length of the hole14. The numeral 16 designates a set screw threaded into one end of thehole 14 and engaging the top of the abrasive le element 15 as shown inFig. 3. By tightening this set screw 16, the le 15 will be rigidly heldwithin the slot 13 as shown in Fig. 1. The other end of the hole 14 willbe below the tile and will serve as an outlet passageway for filingsfrom the shhookbeing sharpened. By this arrangement, my tool will beself-cleaning. Obviously without the hole 14, the le 15 and slot 13would readily become fouled from the metal removed from the shhook beingsharpened and would necessitate the constant removal of the screw 16 andiile 15 for cleaning. However, with my structure, the shavings from theshhook will readily drop out through the open end of the hole 14.

The numeral 17 designates the hook point passageway in the free end ofthe head portion 12. This hole 17 is concentric with the tool andextends longitudinally into the tool as shown in Fig. 5. Also it will benoted that the hole 17 and slot 13 are so located that the extreme sideof the hole 17 adjacent the slot 13 will be in communication with thesame. Due to the angularity of the slot 13, the hole 17 will eventuallycompletely pass into the slot 13 as shown in Fig. 5. As is well known,the barbed end of shhooks are pointed and to compensate for theincreasing diameter of the same from the extreme point end, I haveaccordingly changed the diameter of the hole 17 as it extends into thetool. By this structure the hole 17 is formed to decrease in diameter asit approaches into the slot 13. In my first experimentations with mySharpeners, I formed this hole 17 of uniform diameter, but found thatdue to the shape of the barb of the fishhook, two serious objectionsarose, i. e., the tool would not successfully take different sizedhooks, and secondly, the tool objectionably wobbled when rotated.Furthermore, in some cases the point of the hook would not be ground toa thin, sharp taper. However, by the structure of my hole 17, which isin reality, first, a large hole passageway, and then a communicatingsmaller diameter passageway, I find that many dilferent sizes of hooksmay be successfully sharpened to a tine point and furthermore, that thetool will rotate smoothly on its axis without lateral wobbling action.As the side of the hole 17 is in communication with the slot 13, I havebeveled the outer edge 18 of the tile 15 to aid in guiding the point ofthe shhook to be sharpened into the hole 17 and into engagement with theface of the le.

In the drawings I have used the numeral 19 to designate an ordinaryiishhook.

While I have described my device as particularly adapted for use in thesharpening of ishhooks, it is obvious that the same may be used tosharpen other items such as pins, needles, and like. To sharpen any ofthese items, it is merely necessary to insert the point of the item tobe sharpened into the hole passageway 17 and manually rotate the toolthereon.

Some changes may be made in the construction and |arrangement of myiishhook Sharpener, without departing from the real spi-rit and purposeof my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, anymodied forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents Which may bereasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1.V In a device of the class described, an elongated body member havinga longitudinal hole in y'one endVV and a transverse hole extendingcompletely through it, a slot opening' in the said end of said Vbodymember extending at an yangle to the longitudinal axis of said bodymember, communicating with said longitudinal hole, and bisecting saidtransverse hole, a flat le member in said slot opening, and a fasteningmember threaded into one end of said transverse hole and contacting saidflat tile member.

2. In a device of the class described, an elongated body member having atransverse hole extending completely through it and in its end alongitudinal 'hole with its entrance bore of greater diameter than thediameter of its innermost bore, a slot opening in the said end of saidbody member extending at an angle to the longitudinal axis of said bodymember, communicating with said 1ongitudinal hole and bisecting saidtransverse hole, 'a Hat tile member in said slot opening, and afasteningmember threaded into one end of said transverse hole and contacting saidat file member.

3. In a device of the class described, an elongated body member having`a longitudinal dead center hole in one end and a transverse holeextending completely through it, a slot opening in the said end of saidbody member extending at =an angle to the longitudinal axis of said bodymember, communicating With said longitudinal hole and bisecting saidtransverse hole, a at tile member in said slot opening, and a fasteningmember threaded into one end of said'transverse hole and contacting saidtlat file member.

4. In `a iishbook Sharpener, an elongated body member having in its endand at an angle to the longitudinal axis of said body member a slotopening, a flat tile member in said slot, a longitudinal center hole ofgraduated diameters in the end of'said body member, said longitudinalhole communioatingwith said slot, Iand means for discharging from saidlongitudinal opening the lings from a sharpened iishhook.

5. In a shhook Sharpener, an elongated body member having in its end andat an angle to the longitudinal axis of said body member `a slotopening, aat tile member in said slot, a longitudinal center hole ofgraduated diameters in the end of said body members, the most inward ofsaid `diameters being smaller than the most outward of said diameters,said longitudinal hole communicating with said slot, 'and means fordischarging fromsaid 1ongitudinal opening the filings from a sharpenedshhook.

References Cited in the'tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSLefteruk Feb. 20, 1951 Clayton July 15, 1879-

